Lunamae (6 page)

“Yes, thanks.” My mother was home more
frequently now. Angharad was very bitter and there was only so much
my mother could palette. I watched her take an herb bag down from
one of the shelves. She put it in a pot of water and set the pot in
a spit over the fireplace. Then she prepared a fire since it was
Julna and we still had a while before the cold of night was upon us
and the fire would need to be kept at all times. The spit was
designed so it was two pieces combined. The two pieces branched in
the center and rejoined allowing for the pot to sit within. It was
one of my father’s inventions and it helped speed up the boiling
process tremendously. Having the kettle near the hearth took
longer.

My father returned after shoeing a horse, his
hands were a little dirty and so he washed outside before entering.
“I hear you plan on visiting the dungeon. You spoke a little too
loud,” he said as Mother handed him a towel to dry off. “I won’t
tell. I think it is a good idea. Perhaps Lunamae can soften up my
sister. I obviously can do no good with her. Leofric was a good man
and didn’t deserve to die but the Kyrians lost plenty too in that
battle. You can’t blame them all, especially not the boy I saw with
them.” Father then headed to his room and shut the door. I heard
Lunamae overhead mumbling something.

“Is there something you wanted to add,
Lunamae?” I asked.

“
Nothing
,” she said. I rolled my eyes
and waved my mother and brother off and I headed up the stairs to
the loft. Lunamae was on a pallet next to mine and was laying with
her chest to the roof, staring up in a pout. “What
is
wrong
with her?”

“With who?” I asked, although I knew exactly
who she meant.

“My
mother
,” she said firmly. I took
off my overdress and laid down on my pallet. She rolled over to
look at me. “Mothers are supposed to be kind and loving.”

“She thinks she is,” I said. “She was doing
it for you, to protect you.”

“From a boy?” Lunamae wondered.

“Kyrie was responsible for the death of your
father,” I said.

“The boy wasn’t. He would have been a
toddler,” she retorted.

I sighed in frustration. “Perhaps his father,
then.”

“They don’t seem like the type of people who
go to battle. They are calm and have soothing voices,” Lunamae said
with a yawn. I was getting tired as well.

“Get some rest. I told you we would see to
their care and well-being tomorrow. We can find out more then,” I
said and she nodded.

“Good night Muirenn.”

“Good night Lunamae.”

The next morning we headed to the cook house
with Lunamae leading the way. She asked the cook for a whole feast
of dishes and I told her that might be too much and stir up
suspicion so perhaps it would be better to limit it to a couple … a
couple very loaded plates. While we waited for the kitchen staff to
prepare them we took our leave outside where it was cooler, away
from the cooking fires.

“Does our village have any mages?” Lunamae
asked me. I had never heard her talk about magic before, it was odd
she would bring it up now. “I was wondering because one of the
manuscripts I found in the library mentioned them.”

“Occasionally some are found with a gift,” I
said, nonchalantly. “If they are discovered, they travel to
Fanarion where they can be more properly taught to harness them.
Magic is not as strong here as it once was. It has been forbidden
altogether in Chalos.”

“I was wondering. I thought perhaps a mage
could get the Kyrians out,” Lunamae said.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea,” I
said, sniffing the air. I could tell something had been put on a
spit in the kitchen because the smell of cooking meat reached my
nose.

“Why not?” Lunamae inquired, brushing a few
blowing strands of her locks away from her face. The morning wind
had picked up; a storm was probably coming our way.

“It would lead suspicion in town that there
were traitors about. Anyone who wouldn’t obey the commands of your
mother would be considered a traitor. We wouldn’t want nosy people
hindering our helping the prisoners,” I stated. She nodded in
realization.

“Is there something we could do while we
wait?” she asked me, shifting anxiously. “I’m bored.” While not the
most amusing or entertaining thing to do, I offered her the
suggestion of working on her mother’s tapestry to which she agreed.
It made sense to do so, as some distraction. We walked to the keep
and headed up to the sewing room. My mother was inside, working on
something for herself. She tucked it away as we entered. I assumed
she wanted to help us with the tapestry as that was our most
current project.

“Good day to you both,” she said warmly.

“Good day,” we replied formally. We found the
tapestry loom where we had last left it. Lunamae had been doing the
hard part, weaving back to front, and I had been guiding her
through. I had to make sure she kept the threads a little loose so
the tapestry sides didn’t get narrower. My mother was there to
offer additional assistance as she had helped with the one at the
main keep entrance. The women had taken turns with it. She also had
made embroidered motifs to be added onto the tapestry later.

“What are you two up to today, besides
you-know-what?” Mother questioned.

“I hadn’t thought past it yet,” I uttered.
After a couple of hours or so, gauging from the solislight, we
stopped our work and Lunamae put the loom away. We headed back to
the cook house to check up on the status of the foods.

“Here are your two plates of freshly cooked
braised beef, a bit of the beef stew, and a leg of lamb as
requested,” the cook said, displaying the food in front of us in a
very professional manner. Lunamae took one dish and I took the
other. I made sure she took the lighter one because of her
stature.

“Perhaps we should cover it,” I said,
thinking that bringing such delicious food down to the dungeons
might arouse suspicion. If it was covered, the guards wouldn’t know
what it looked like and they could smell it was obviously food.

“Whatever for?” the cook inquired, a bit
annoyed.

“We would like to retain the heat,” I
affirmed, raising my head like a maiden of the keep.

“I see,” the cook said. We waited as he
clambered about in the kitchen, looking for something appropriate.
He procured two lids and placed them atop the dishes. We issued our
hearty thanks and headed back towards the keep. The dungeons were
obviously in the lower depths of the keep and were accessible
through one narrow passageway that was almost indistinguishable
from the rest of the walls in low light. We entered the keep and
walked towards the passageway. There were no lit sconces as there
had been last time I had been there.

“I hope you aren’t afraid of the dark,” I
said in all seriousness.

“I will manage,” Lunamae said proudly. She
followed my lead as I walked down carefully. The farther down we
went, the more the smell of decay filled our noses. Thank goodness
we were carrying food which helped conquer the nasty smells. As we
approached the celled area we noticed a faint light getting
stronger and brighter. The sconces were lit so there were guards
down there. There were only a couple and they approached us slowly.
They easily picked up the features of Lunamae and I, and inquired
on why we would be in the dungeons.

“We have brought food. For the prisoners, of
course,” I said, as if the guards were dumb. Expressions of
confusion danced across their faces in the dim light of the sconce
fire.

“They have already been fed,” one of the
guards said, his deep voice bouncing off of the stone walls.

“Perhaps you think so, but the food they are
given wouldn’t fill you well I am sure,” I said. I had to give away
our secret because otherwise our presence would have made no sense
and I didn’t want it getting back to the chief dame. “We want to
see they are cared for properly. If the prisoners ever survive and
are returned we don’t want to be known as being savages.”

“Indeed,” another guard said. “By all means,
feed them ‘properly’ then.” The guards let us by and we looked into
the cells. Only a half a day had passed so the people didn’t look
sickly or starved. I could imagine from the amount of traveling
they did they would still be in need of decent food. I offered them
my plate and Lunamae offered hers through one of the bottom grates
which was shaped in a rectangle for such uses.

“Thank you,” the one called Gaius said to me.
They gave most of the food to the boy who ate hungrily.

“Why do you not share all equally?” Lunamae
asked. Even in the dim light I could see a look of surprise appear
her face.

“Marcus requires it more than us,” Gaius
said. With the food in the cells, the musky odors of the dungeon
were becoming overly pungent and I covered my nose with my
hand.

“— Because my father is a Dominar,” the boy
stated, munching on a bit of the beef.

“Shh, they aren’t supposed to know that,”
Gaius said, unnerved.

“It’s all right. I won’t tell,” Lunamae
assured. “My mother wasn’t right to stick you down here.”

“Your mother?” Gaius wondered curiously.

Lunamae nodded. “The chief dame.”

“Oh,
that
bit—” Marcus started to say,
but was cut off by Gaius who told him to watch his tongue.

“I am sure she has some
valid
reason
for putting us down here because the explanation she gave didn’t
make sense,” Gaius said, taking a potato from the stew and plopping
it in his mouth. I tried not to think about the dirtiness of his
hands.

“So a Dominar is one of the decision-makers
of Kyrie?” I inquired as the word was unfamiliar to me. Gaius
nodded and swallowed so he would be able to speak.

“Yes, but Marcus’ father wasn’t involved in
the decision to go to war with Frys. That was made by one of the
radicals who has now been replaced. Unfortunately the votes were
somehow miscounted or rigged to where the majority of the Dominar
Delegates were of this unconventional way of thinking. Kyrians on
the whole have always been a peaceful people. The radicals wanted
your territory,” the man explained.

“So what are you?” Lunamae asked. “I mean,
what is your title?”

“I am an ambassador. I represent all the
Dominar Delegates of Kyrie and I initiate peace and trade between
people groups. As I had said before, they wanted to have peace with
Clan Frys. All of the corrupt Dominars have been removed from
office. They will not pose a danger to you any longer.”

“I see. If only my aunt could get past her
anger,” I said sympathetically. “We can’t do any good in getting
you out of here. Lunamae can’t address her mother—she is much too
young. She is under my care and if she were to get into trouble my
family would be at fault and take the punishment. All we can do is
see to your health and make sure that you don’t starve.” I realized
that part of the smell in the air was body odor. The Kyrians were
dirty from their travels and living in close quarters only added to
it. “I will see that clean water is sent down for you all to
bathe—at least three times a week. We will also see to your
nourishment.”

“Marcus, will you be all right?” Lunamae
asked the boy. He stopped eating for a second and their eyes
met.

“I will manage,” he said, though not
forgetting to add, “Thanks.” It almost made me laugh that he used
the same phrase that Lunamae had said earlier.

“We must leave because we don’t want to
attract too much attention by our absence. You understand,” I said.
The ambassador nodded and motioned us to leave. We passed by the
guards on the way up to the main level of the keep.

“He seems nice,” Lunamae said.

“Gaius is nice,” I stated. The ambassador
left a good impression with me and I wished my aunt could get past
their differences in the hope of peace.

“
No
,” she said firmly, correcting me.
“Marcus.”

“He sounded like he was a spoiled brat,” I
said.

“Well
I
didn’t think so,” Lunamae said
soundly, obviously not realizing the boy had almost called her
mother the name for a female dog. We walked back to our house
silently, but not before Lunamae asked to visit Marcus again
tomorrow. I didn’t have much of a choice but to say yes. I had to
watch her and if I denied her request I would have to hear her
whine for the rest of the day which was not something enjoyable.
She practically skipped the rest of the way home.